C3's are BEAUTIFUL!!!
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Denton Texas
Originally Posted by DJ Dep
Also brush up on the AC Cobra. Vettes ran for cover when they were on the track in the mid-60s.
Dep
Dep
Incredible race. I don't remember any of the other cars on the track, because it was strictly a race between those two. The Cobra could eat the Vette's lunch in the corners, but on the back straight the Corvette would blow by the Cobra like it was standing still. I still get goosebumps recalling the deep throated sound of the sidepipes on the Grand Sport coming down the back straight, and that was nearly 40 years ago.
Who won? The Cobra broke. As a matter of fact, I was one of several spectators who helped push it back on the trailer. I was pushing on the windshield post by the steering wheel, and I took a long look inside. What I remember was the Dymo tape across the face of the tach. It said, "Dave - Rev limit 9500." I was impressed.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 6
From: Silver City NM
St. Jude Donor '05-'07
73ragtop: Excellent read!!! I remember Ken Miles driving the Cobras more though.
http://www.cobracountry.com/editoria...iles/home.html
Summerfun: Glad you like the Cheetah stuiff. I'd LOVE to build a kit car of it, but no way I'd fit inside when I was done!!!
Dep
http://www.cobracountry.com/editoria...iles/home.html
Summerfun: Glad you like the Cheetah stuiff. I'd LOVE to build a kit car of it, but no way I'd fit inside when I was done!!!
Dep
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: Denton Texas
Originally Posted by DJ Dep
73ragtop: Excellent read!!! I remember Ken Miles driving the Cobras more though.
Dep
Dep
At Daytona, Shelby substituted Bob Holbert for Ken Miles as Dave McDonald's co-driver. Shelby considered Miles too valuable to risk on the track in an unproven car. Miles was real disappointed because the coupe was built around him. And he knew he could drive the Coupe to victory at Daytona. He tried to convince Shelby that he knew the car better than anyone else and he knew how to get the most out of it. But Shelby prevailed and made Miles team manager instead of a team driver. Shelby figured that with the experience of Holbert and McDonald in the roadsters, they would quickly learn how to drive the Coupe. After all the Coupe was a lot easier to handle on the track than the Cobra Roadsters. Both were right.
I also found this tidbit:
The Daytona Cobra Coupes
Chassis # CSX2287 - The Prototype
The very first prototype Cobra Daytona Coupe. The only coupe that was built entirely at the Shelby American race shop in Venice, California. It has an extensive race history, competing at Daytona, Sebring, Reims, Spa Francorchamps, Oulton Park TT, and Tour de France.* It was driven by Dave MacDonald, Bob Holbert, Jo Schlesser, Phil Hill, Jochen Neerpasch, Innes Ireland, Andre Simon, Maurice Dupeyron, Bob Johnson, Tom Payne.
I'd really like to know more about The Grand Sport Corvettes; they were truly awesome machines ... I've never seen bigger side exhaust pipes or heard a louder Chevy V-8.
Eddie
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 11,920
Likes: 2
"I've never seen bigger side exhaust pipes or heard a louder Chevy V-8."
...must have had monster compression.
I used an LS7 in my C3 last year with 12,5:1
compression....way louder than the prior LS6,5,and original LS4
As a matter of fact it was way louder than my current 10,3:1 540, but the 540 runs on pump gas and the LS7 didn't.
It was a chore, let me tell you!!
...must have had monster compression.
I used an LS7 in my C3 last year with 12,5:1
compression....way louder than the prior LS6,5,and original LS4
As a matter of fact it was way louder than my current 10,3:1 540, but the 540 runs on pump gas and the LS7 didn't.
It was a chore, let me tell you!!
